A woman who created a fictitious child to help claim more than $100,000 in false welfare claims has been sentenced to two years in jail.
Fesuiai Tuigamala, 52, pleaded guilty in Campbelltown District Court in Sydney's southwest on Friday to fraudulently claiming Centrelink payments over a seven-year period.
The Ingleburn woman was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to repay the balance of her debt, amounting to more than $64,000.
The judge imposed a six-month non-parole period and an 18-month good behaviour bond.
Between 1998 and 2005, Tuigamala collected the Parenting Payment (Single) and the Family Tax Benefit by claiming she had three children and was unemployed.
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Investigations revealed she in fact had two children and had failed to declare earnings from her employment.
Centrelink agents detected the fraud when they compared data with information from the Australian Taxation Office and other government agencies.
Centrelink general manager Hank Jongen said in a statement those who cheat the system ultimately will be caught, no matter how long they go undetected.
"This was an elaborate deceit which was uncovered by Centrelink's thorough data matching systems and proves that it's only a matter of time before those defrauding the government are found," he said.
"Stealing taxpayers' money is a serious crime and my message to those thinking about trying to defraud Centrelink is don't try it."
